Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s share price was down 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $411.51 and last traded at $415.38. Approximately 5,468,426 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 8,026,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $421.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $658.45.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $507.85 and a 200-day moving average of $465.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.99 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.28%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, insider Prabu Raja sold 10,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total transaction of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at $219,608,106.26. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total transaction of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,877,960. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 96,821 shares of company stock worth $65,944,771 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $57,993,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Applied Materials by 19.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,645,344,000 after buying an additional 1,246,876 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,576,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,879 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,252,863,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a global provider of materials engineering solutions used to manufacture semiconductors, displays and other advanced electronic products. The company develops and supplies equipment, services and software that help customers build and improve the performance of chips and display panels.

Its semiconductor products support processes including deposition, etch, patterning, inspection, metrology and materials modification. Applied Materials also provides equipment and services for display manufacturing, including technologies used in producing liquid-crystal and organic light-emitting diode displays, as well as solutions for adjacent markets such as solar and other specialty applications.

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials serves semiconductor and display manufacturers worldwide through operations, customer-support centers and research and development activities across major technology-producing regions.